When the Israelites were wandering in the desert, God fed them manna every day. In fact, they were told to gather enough manna every day for that day’s use. Anything more than what they needed would mold during the night. And why would they need to keep it? They got it fresh every day!

The only variation on that was the Sabbath – since they weren’t to do any work on the Sabbath, they could gather enough for two days on the day before- and because it was a heavenly gift, on those days it did NOT mold.

But the Israelites weren’t satisfied…. they decided they couldn’t eat another bite of manna. They needed quail – they complained and griped to Moses about it. They mumbled behind their doors, they grumbled as they talked to neighbors.

So Moses went to God and told Him the Israelites wanted quail. And that’s just what God provided.

Soon there were quail everywhere; hovering just above ground level, so the Israelites could easily gather them up and eat. And eat they did. The Bible says they ate ’til it was coming out their noses.  Just ponder on that mental image for a minute…

And now consider this: manna was provided from Heaven so it was perfect food. It met all their dietary needs; it tasted good; it was easy to gather and as long as they followed the rules, it didn’t spoil. They got new manna every day, fresh.

But the Israelites chose to have something earthly- fleshly, if you will. They wanted quail and lots of it. And they got it.

Are we making the same mistake? Are we asking for fleshly things instead of the things of God? If we are, do we really want the same outcome the Israelites got?

Because the Israelites really should have thought about what happened to the Egyptians. They worked against God, and the gods they worshipped ended up filling their mouths too. Don’t believe me? Check the story in the Bible – fleas, flies, gnats, frogs- all so plentiful around them it was in their beds, in their food – and in their mouths.

We better be careful what we’re chasing after.